Sat, 15 Apr 2006

Today's SF Chronicle had a story
about the nesting peregrine falcons on a building in San Francisco.
In past years, they've had a "Peregrine Cam" allowing people to
watch the falcons as they raised their chicks.

Well, this year the Peregrine Cam
is back -- only now it's streaming video that requires a fast broadband
connection and Microsoft's Windows Media Player.

If you just want to see
the falcons, you're out of luck if your connection isn't
up to streaming a full video feed, or if you're on a platform like
Linux where Windows Media Player isn't offered.

Linux does have several video player applications which can play
WMV format, but that's not enough. When I visited the page, what
I got was a streamed video advertisement for the company that provides
the streaming technology (in stuttering jerks that left no doubt that
their bandwidth requirement is higher than the wimpy DSL available in
this part of San Jose can provide). But that was all; the video ended
after the ad, with no glimpse of falcons.

(I suppose I should be grateful that their Viewing FAQ even mentions
Linux, if only to say "Linux users can't view the Peregrine Cam
because it needs WMP." Other folks who can't use the camera are
people with earlier versions of WMP, Mac users using Safari or Opera
or who don't have Stuffit, and people behind corporate firewalls.)

The site doesn't have a Contact or Feedback link, where one
might be able to ask "Could you possibly consider posting an
photos, for those of us who would love to see the falcons
but can't use your whizzy Microsoft-dependant streaming video
technology?" Not everyone even wants high-bandwidth streaming
video. Alas, the closest they offer is the 2006 Diary,
updated irregularly and only with 200x200 thumbnail images.

Update: mplayer users with the appropriate codec can view the
camera with the following command: